Brian J. Prendergast, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Psychology and The College.

Prendergast received his BA in Psychology from Williams College and Ph.D. in Psychology from University California, Berkeley, where he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship. He also received postdoctoral fellowships from Johns Hopkins University and The Ohio State University.

The Chronobiology and Neuroimmunology Laboratory, directed by Brian Prendergast, Ph.D., focuses on biological clocks in the brain. We are conducting experiments that seek to better understand the internal representation of time by identifying neural and endocrine mechanisms by which organisms mark the passing of the seasons.

The lab’s research is concerned with the mechanisms that underlie the temporal structure of physiology and behavior. Over the past decade, the lab’s research has focused on elaborating mechanisms by which daily and seasonal time information are imparted into the reproductive and immune systems.

List of Chronobiology and Neuroimmunology Lab Publications

Psychoneuroimmunology:
Bidirectional interactions between biological clocks and the immune system
Neural mechanisms of sickness behavior, motivational changes, and depression
Chronic disease and brain function: neuroinflammatory processes and HPA axis

Behavioral neuroendocrinology:
Neuroendocrine and molecular mechanisms of biological timing